The fantasy blockbuster "Monkey King" will soon have a sequel with a star-studded cast that includes Kris Phillips and Gong Li, as reported during a press conference on Wednesday.

In the sequel entitled "Monkey King 2," Donnie Yen will not reprise his role as the titular character and will reportedly be replaced by Aaron Kwok, a singer and actor from Hong Kong. What is ironic is that Kwok already had a role in the first movie where he played the Bull Demon King, as China.org.cn reported. Other actors that will join Kwok are Feng Shaofeng, Xiao Shenyang, Law Chung-him, Gong Li, and Kris Phillips.

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Kris Phillips, also known as Fei Xiang, was revealed by Yahoo! Entertainment Singapore to play a significant role in the sequel that will definitely surprise audiences, complete with a poster asking fans to guess what his role will be.

Another newcomer to the franchise is Gong Li, who will play the White Bone Demon, the titular character in the Chinese title that translates to "Subdue the White-Bone Demon in Three Rounds."

However, Gong Li was not as splendid an actress as she is now. Before she became the sought-after actress she is today, Gong took the national exams, or Gaokao, a total of four times before getting accepted into the Central Academy of Drama, and Want China Times reported that she only got into the school by exemption since she still did not score enough to be admitted despite being trained by director Yin Dawei, who saw her in a chance encounter and personally taught her how to act. However, she did work hard to reach where she is now, and now she is known as an actress both in China and in Hollywood.

Another actress who took the Gaokao more than once is Tang Wei of "Lust, Caution" fame, who took it a total of three times before attending the same school in 2000.

TagsGong Li, Kris Phillips, Monkey King, Monkey King 2, Subdue the White-Bone Demon in Three Rounds